AMUSEMENTS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19892, 21 March 1939, Page 3

AMUSEMENTS

REGENT THEATRE DOUBLE BILL: "LOVE IS ON THE AIR" AND " PATIENT IN ROOM 18" All sorts ol' mysteries—including murders and the theft of £20,000 worth of radium—are certain to keep the audiences on the edges of their seats when the Warner Bros.' melodrama "The Patient in Room 18," is screening at the Regent Theatre. That handsome young British-born actor, Patrick Knowles (well remembered as Errol Flynn's brother in "The Charge of the Light Brigade"), and the beautiful athletic red-head from Texas, Ann Sheridan, have the leading parts. Pat plays a new type of detective, Lance O'Leary, who is able to unravel all the puzzles while himself confined to the hospital as a patient, Ann is Sara Keafe, an alert ') and competent nurse, who does her share in helping the detective do his part. Mignon G. Eberhart, famous creator of detective-mystery stories, is the author of "The Patient in Room 18." It was made into a screen play by Eugene Solow and Robertson White, and was directed by Bobby Connolly and Crane Wilbur, who kept it moving speedily and sustained the various mysteries throughout. An up-to-the-minute novelty is the use of an "electroscope," which reveals the presence of radium no matter how well it may be hidden. Besides the two principals, other players in "The Patient in Room 18" include such notables as John Ridgley, Eric Stanley, Harland Tucker, Cliff Clark, Edward Raquello, Vicki Lester, Rosella Towne, Jean Benedict and Ralph Sanford. It is an interest-holding suspenseful picture and should please everyone. The associate picture on the programme is "Love Is On The Air," a Warner Bros.' talkie, which combines mystery, comedy, and thrilling drama, and uses a radio commentator as its leading character. It brings to the screen a new leading man —a big, good-looking athletic fellow named Ronald Reagan, who, unI til recently was a radio sports commentator for a Des Moines, lowa, newspaper. In "Love Is On The Air" Reagan takes a crack, over the airwaves, at the crooked politicians of a town. One of them in sponsor for a profitable programme and threatens to take it away, but by some highclass amateur detective work the commentator is able to round up a gang of crooks. MAJESTIC THEATRE LAST DAY: MICKEY ROONEY IN "STABLEMATES" M.G.M.'s delightfully human comedy drama, "Stablemates," starring the popular young star, Mickey Rooncy, and Wallace Beery, will conclude a highly successful extended season tonight at 8 o'clock. —To-morrow: "Sergeant Murphy" and "Laughing at Life," Starring Victor McLaglen— Among cavalrymen the world over there is a legend—or maybe it is a true story—about a service horse that was branded "1.C." (inspected and condemned), turned out of the troop, trained by its veteran mount, then made into a steeplechase racer that goes on to win the Grand National in England. True or legendary, the story has been made by Warner Bros, into an altogether delightful movie called "Sergeant Murphy." Ronald Reagan, a handsome newcomer from the radio ranks, plays the part of Danny Murphy, who loved his horse so well —and a fine looking animal it is, too, that plays "The Sarge." Mary Maguire, sft., 18-year-old starlet from Australia, is the colonel's daughter, with whom Reagan falls in love. Don- ' aid Crisp, always grand in military parts, is the colonel himself. There are many gripping scenes of cavalry charges and artillery tactics: beauty is introduced in some Santa Barbara Horse Show sequences, and the hcighl of thrills comes along with a reproduction of the Grand National Steeplechase. No director in Hollywood, they .say, can make racing or other fast-action scenes like B. Reeves (Breezy) Eason. It was he who directed the breath-taking charge in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and it was he again who directed the whole picture of "Sergeant Murphy." The adventures of this great horse and its rider make a highly recommended story. It is a relief at times to turn "voiti the modern school of over-plot-ted and self-concious film stories to tales of unabashed adventure, and so "Laughing at Life," the associate feature, starring Victor McLaglen, is certain to be greeted with considcr- | able enthusiasm, for it is a robust and vivid tale of a soldier of fortune. Offering McLaglen an almost perfect role as Captain Easter, a dare-devil adventurer and gun-runner, it has varied and colourful backgrounds. KING'S THEATRE MARX BROS. IN "ROOM SERVICE": BIG COMEDY PROGRAMME Let the maniacal Marx Brother.' run amuck in a sumptuous hotel; let Groucho become a shoestring producer who stages extravagant shows without a penny; let Harpo and Chico become his semi-insane aides in hilarity; let there be a lovely blonde and a gorgeous brunette and you have the Marx Brothers in their gayest, side-splitting fun-feast to date, "Room Service"—a solid hour and a half ot gags and sparkling comedy which comes to the King's Theatre today. Adhering closely to the Broadway success from which it is smartly adapted, "Room Service" has e Marx Brothers step into three principal roles in a ready-made comedy and carry it to uproarious heights. Grcucho Marx, a theatrical producer without a penny, endeavou to maintain himself and his cast at a Broadway hotel on credit while looking for a backer for his play. Through his brother-in-law, the hotel manager, he accomplishes this successfully—until one of the hotel's highest executive finds him owing C 220, just as a backer appears on the Marxian horizon. The ensuing ruses and complications to held show and stomach together at the expense of others are perpetrated by Groucho. Chico and Harpo as only the Marxes can. Top-notch is the best description of the comic trio's laughmaking. It is a real treat* for the "fans." A specially selected supporting programme in keeping with the main feature includes Edgar Kennedy in "Dumb as Ever," Leon Errol in "Hit and Run," Walter Catlett in "Upper Cutlets." The Three Stooees in "Half-shot Shooters" a Walt Disney's latest riot "Mickey's Parrot."